Hamilton six hundreths of a second faster than Merc team-mate; Vettel and Ricciardo on second row; Alonso 10th as McLaren make it into Q3 again; Sunday's race starts at 7pm, live on Sky Sports F1
Monday 13 June 2016 12:09, UK
Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after edging out team-mate Nico Rosberg in qualifying.
Hamilton has been in scintillating form all weekend and his benchmark lap of 1:12.812 was six hundredths of a second faster than Rosberg's best effort, as Mercedes locked out the front row.
It was the Brit's fifth pole in Montreal and the 53rd of his career, though he has yet to convert the position to a race victory this season - and wasn't satisfied with his performance.
Hamilton unhappy with his pole position lap
"Honestly, it wasn't great lap - but I'm not sure l should admit that!" the Brit told Sky Sports F1, "I didn't have the same pace that l had yesterday."
Sebastian Vettel was less than two tenths behind the leading duo in third for Ferrari, and he seemed to have a shot at an unlikely pole after both Silver Arrows failed to improve with their final flying laps.
"As a driver you always feel there is a little bit more," he said. "On my last lap I was very happy with the lap in general. I was maybe a little bit greedy out of Turn 10, maybe not greedy enough into Turn Six."
Red Bull have threatened Mercedes' dominance in recent weeks and Daniel Ricciardo joins Vettel on the second row after out-qualifying team-mate Max Verstappen by two tenths, despite clipping the Wall of Champions on his fastest lap. They were followed by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg were next up, while Fernando Alonso will start the race from 10th as he secured another Q3 for McLaren.
Jenson Button didn't quite have the same afternoon in the sister MP4-31, qualifying 12th, and complained that he gave his team-mate a tow.
Alonso agreed, telling Sky F1: "I took a good tow in the last run and that was enough to go into Q3... so thanks to him!"
The Spaniard may not have made the final shootout at all were it not for countryman Carlos Sainz becoming the Wall of Champions' first victim of the weekend. The Toro Rosso driver clipped the famous wall on the exit of the final chicane before grinding up against it, causing red flags in Q2.
"If it's a wall, you don't mind so much hitting the Wall of Champions," he told Sky Sports F1. "But it's still not a good feeling."
Wet weather is predicted for Sunday's race, which represents both a risk and an opportunity for the field.
"If it rains, the qualifying result is not relevant any more," Toto Wolff said on Sky F1. "If it's dry, you can see that the pace between the top three or four cars is pretty much the same."
There was also a disruption in Q1 after Rio Haryanto's span his Manor into the barriers, with the yellow flags halting other drivers on flying laps.
Renault's Jolyon Palmer, after Kevin Magnussen was unable to compete in qualifying following his P3 crash, once again couldn't make it into Q2.
Canadian GP Qualifying
Q3
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:12.812
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:12.874
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:12.990
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:13.166
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:13.414
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:13.579
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:13.670
8. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:13.769
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:13.952
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:14.338
Q2
11. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:14.317
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:14.437
13. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:14.457
14. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:14.571
15. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:14.803
16. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:21.956
Q1
17. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:15.459
18. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:15.599
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:15.635
20. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:16.663
21. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:17.052
22. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, Did not run
